The present invention relates to exercise apparatus and more particularly to a cardiovascular exercise apparatus which includes means for providing aerobic exercising of both the upper and lower body portions of the user and including biofeedback means for monitoring the heart rate of the user and reducing or terminating the exercise load in reponse to the user's heart rate exceeding a preset limit.
In recent years, the medical profession has recognized the importance of exercise in cardiovascular health with most physicians now prescribing moderately intense aerobic exercise programs for heart rehabilitation and preventive care. In this regard, physicians are routinely recommending cycling as a preferred form of aerobic exercise effective in cardiovascular conditioning.
In response to this professional recognition, a variety of exercise and stress analysis equipment have been introduced in the marketplace. Basically, the majority of the prior art cardiovascular exercise equipment can be segregated into two classifications: (1) treadmills and ergometers adapted primarily for clinical testing and rehabilitation applications and (2) cycling exercise apparatus predominantly utilized for residential use.
The prior art professional treadmills and ergometers have typically been extremely expensive due primarily to their inclusion of complex biofeedback means which provide a constant monitoring of many of the user's physical perameters (such as heart rate and blood pressure). In addition, due to such ergometers and treadmills being capable of overstressing cardiovascular activity during use, such apparatus have typically been utilized only in clinical applications where trained medical personnel can monitor the physical perameters of the user and modify the exercise program as required.
In contrast to the prior art professional apparatus, the majority of the prior art residential bicycle exercise apparatus have typically failed to provide the necessary biofeedback to monitor the user's cardiovascular performance during the exercise program. In addition, many of the prior art residential exercise apparatus have been poorly constructed and have often been incapable of providing sufficient load regulating tolerances during repetitive operations. Further, due to their failure to include any biofeedback monitoring, they have posed an inherent safety hazard in causing overstress conditions without giving any warning to the individual user.
Further, both the professional and residential prior art exercise apparatus have typically only been designed to exercise the lower portion of the body and have failed to address the need for upper body exercise which additionally has been found effective in improving cardiovascular health.
As such, there exists a substantial need in the art for an improved cardiovascular exercise apparatus which is relatively low cost to permit widespread residential as well as clinical use, provides aerobic exercise for both the lower and upper portions of the body, includes a biofeedback mechanism to permit monitoring of the cardiovascular system, and further, includes a safety mechanism which insures that cardiovascular overstressing is controlled or eliminated.